Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Bad First Dates

When I was fifteen or so I was offered a deal by my moms new found boyfriend. He was trying to sell his screwy little car and was willing to sell it for two thousand dollars. My parents had saved about a thousand for my college education but let me go ahead and use it on my first car. This transaction at the time seemed like a deal I couldn't pass up and so I found a job at a party store and worked as hard as I could to buy my car. After eight or nine months I made just enough to buy the car from him and was happy as could be. A year later I got my licenses and from there I was ready to roll.
While I was working for my car and trying to go to school I hadn't really dated anyone. I was more or less a nerd if you will and was more interested in programming or playing video games than going to parties and getting drunk. Through out high school I had no more than a hand full of close friends and even though they where more into the party scene I still never joined them. Now not only was I just not interested in partying I also was a nervous and awkward person who over analyzed every single thing. I was the one who would go over every bad thing that could happen while at a party or meeting new people or what have you.
My senior year was possibly the most strange year of high school of them all. I wasn't the most interesting person to talk to but I tried talking to everyone I could. That year I realized no one here is going to be around me after high school so why worry. Near the beginning of the year all of my friends where trying to get me to go out with this one girl named Susan she was tall and a bit large but a nice person. she was a band geek and I was a computer nerd and my friends assumed that we where a perfect match. However I am shy and she was even more shy than me so instead of dating we sat awkwardly near each other and went our separate ways. I then went on a sort of date with one of my close friends that ended in her throwing up and telling me "we are just friends".
At this point I was working for Giant Food and was considering asking out one of my coworkers. Sadly I was more timid and would wait and somehow ask them out only moments after someone else at work would. Six different times while at work I would get up the courage and ask one of them and the answer was always "OH you are so nice for asking but I am going out with bob or something" in which then I would say "OH yeah he's a nice guy good for you" and then walk away. I started to think they where just blowing me off but not long after I was told they where with someone I would see them with the person they mentioned. So after about three months of working there I decided I was not going to ask out any of my coworkers. It was just too awkward afterwards.
Back at school though I was about half way through my last year and was thinking I would be the looser that lives in his moms basement till I am thirty. Then something kind of odd happened. I was in a business management class and this not very attractive but nice girl was sitting in front of me. She needed help with something on the computer and because I was the teachers pet I willingly gave her a hand. I was no more or less nice than I usually am and really didn’t do much to help but I must have left some sort of good impression with her. Later that day she added me on My space and contacted every single friend I had. She kind of stalked me for a short time and apparently was obsessed with me. after a week or so she started talking to my best friend and had her talk to me. During lunch this odd girl from class was sitting by me and my friends trying to start a conversation and I being the rude person I am ignored her existence. She eventually got up and talked to some of her friends and that's when my friends jumped in with the words "she likes you, you should ask her out". I laughed and said "like hell have you looked at her". Then my friends started chanting "Brandons gay" louder and louder apparently trying to peer pressure me into dating this sophomore. Sadly I fell for the peer pressure and well it didn't matter because she technically asked me out and I have this problem where I just can’t say no if I know it is going to make someone sad.
So me and her awkwardly tried to date and hang out. I really didn’t find her attractive but after several days of being around her I think I forced myself to like her. However after a few weeks she tried to kiss my and well I looked at her face and the mole on the left of her chin made me put my hand straight into her face holding her away as I gagged a bit. Some how I passed it off as being sensitive and not wanting to rush the relationship or some bull but I really just wanted to go to my programming class.
After a few weeks we scheduled a date. This would be my first date and I was a tad bit excited. I tried to find something fun to do on this date and asked everyone I knew sadly this was not very helpful. Finally the day was upon me and I had to figure out something because I made it seem like I had a plan. In the end we went to Fun land of all places and ate something at a fast food place but then for some reason we decided to go to best buy. There she hinted that she wanted to drive. At first I strongly said no but after walking around bored in best buy I thought what was the worst that could happen.
That night I made one of the dumbest decisions I have ever made. I gave my girl friend the keys. She was so excited and immediately put the car in reverse. I realized she hadn't put off the parking brake so I pulled it down for her and that is when she floored it. The car went back and in what felt like less than a second we where stopped but much farther back. From there I jumped out and looked at the damage. She had hit a white Chevy Avalanche which is a huge truck. The Chevy had a small dent in the bumper and some scratches on the paint but my car a tiny Hyundai Elantra was crushed like you wouldn't believe. I can remember the crushing sound so vividly. It was like some one had stomped on a soda can but much louder. My trunk was smashed down into the car and the right side was shoved in demolishing the tail light. I immediately got back into the car and after a few seconds started to drive away.
The second dumbest thing I did was right there. I had drove away from a collision. I drove to the nearest grocery store which just so happened to be where I worked and examined the damage even more. I poked at it as if it wasn't real and maybe my hand would stop before it went past were the trunk used to be. I felt as if I had just killed someone and was trying to hide the body. It was unreal how such a simple thing would end in such a big event. I attempted to pull my self back together and finally spoke. "this wasn't your fault" I said to the girl who had just smashed my car into oblivion. At this point I decided to drive home and show my parents thankfully my mom was out and so instead I talked to my dad. First I introduced my new girlfriend to my dad then I sheepishly showed him my car and then I lied through my teeth about what had happened.
After showing my dad the car it was time to end the date so I drove her home as quick as I could. I finally got her home and she asked if I wanted to kiss her I was truthfully so angry I was shaking. I told her that I was worried her parents would catch us and got in my car. I drove to a gas station and tried to pretend that I didn't crash my car. That is when I received the phone call. My dad had just received a call from my mom who had got a call about the car that happened to be in her name. My dad told me to head home immediately and I did. At this point my heart was racing. I didn't know what was going to happen. So I drove home in which my dad got in the car and had me drive to the police station.
once at the station I basically pleaded with them begged and apologized all at once. This is when the girl friend and her uniformed father enter the room. Her dad was a cop and was not happy. I had told the story exactly how it had happened but the girl tried to change it up leaving the cops with conflicting stories. So they put us together and re asked us some questions and then she confessed that she had lied about who had crashed the car. Then we sat for a while waiting for the cops and parents to decide our fate. They decided to let us go but I had to pay for the damage to both vehicles and she wasn't going to see a license for a some time.
After that I didn't speak to her until the week before homecoming where we had already made plans and had the tickets. I reluctantly went with her and there I realized she was cranky and would get tired easily. She started reminding me of my grandmother and I really just wanted to go home I had so much fun when I was single at the dances than being tied down to such a dead weight. After that miserable night I swore to my self I would break it off. At lunch with all of our friends I got up and said "you smashed my car and you ruined my good time at the dance the other night" I then said “maybe its just me but I don't like this relationship anymore I don't want to be with you”. Now to put this into perspective she had said "I love you" the night before while I was on the phone with her as you might realize I did not respond.
So what did I learn from this hell date that took place. This relationship that lasted a month or so then took a turn into a wall. Well first off I learned never to let someone drive your car unless they pay for it too. Next I learned that my family is more supportive than I would have expected. Finally I found that duct tape is the best thing on earth because after the wreck I had to duct tape the entire back end of my car. To this day I still drive that piece of junk. It has been repaired but will never drive the same.